Trademark lawyers—if you're looking to show your value, look no farther than a new study by the University of North Carolina Law School titled “Do Trademark Lawyers Matter?” The answer is unequivocally yes.

The study shows that 22 percent more trademark applicants get their trademarks approved when they have counsel. Applicants with counsel receive approval 82 percent of the time, and applicants without counsel receive approval 60 percent of the time.

Experience also makes a difference. The study measured experience by the number of times someone has filed an application. The category with the least experience—10 filings or fewer—included 85 percent of applicants without attorneys. Eighty-eight percent of applicants with attorneys had lawyers who had filed 30 or more applications—the highest experience category.

The most successful applicants without counsel were companies such as McDonald's Corp. and Xerox Corp.; however, though their applications might not have listed an attorney, they likely had access to counsel, either outside or within their legal departments.

Read more at Thomson Reuters.

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